Become a Homelander and a Marvel superstar

"You seem nervous, Hope?" Azu turned his head, looking intently at her. He omitted her surname and addressed her by her first name in a familiar tone.

"I'm not nervous," Hope said, forcing a smile as he met his gaze. "I'm just curious about Starr Industries' sudden interest in a company that mainly deals in nanotechnology and communications. Besides, you should know that Darren Kraus is now in charge at Pym Technologies."

"The Starr Group's vision is always ahead of its time." Azu leaned back slightly, his left arm casually draped over the back of the sofa, just enough to wrap loosely around Hope's back.

"I have no interest in Darren Krause." Azu turned slightly to close the distance between them. "I'm interested in you, Hope."

"Me?" Hope tried her best to maintain a calm expression, but her heart was pounding like a drum, and she was vaguely expecting something. "I don't quite understand what you mean. It's true that I'm just a director of Pym Technologies. But I don't personally manage the company's operations, and the core patents aren't in my possession."

"Don't be modest, Hope."

"I know who truly inherited the genius genes in this company. I also know the secret your father, Hank Pym, hid for half a century."

"I know about Ant-Man's existence..." Azu confessed, "and I also know about the existence of Pym Particles."

Upon hearing this, Hope's pupils contracted sharply, and his voice deepened when he spoke again.

"I don't understand what you're talking about. Ant-Man is just a story made up during the Cold War in the last century."

"My father, Hank Pym, has clarified in countless public occasions that there is no Ant-Man and no Pym Particles that can change the size of objects."

Hope pointed to the door, suppressing the tremor in her heart, and said in a deliberately cold tone, "If you're seeking cooperation with such unrealistic fantasies, then I can only say that you've come to the wrong place."

"Pym Technologies currently has no opportunities to collaborate with Starr Group. Please leave."

After saying all that in one breath, Hope immediately looked away from Azu, afraid that the psychological defenses she had just built up would collapse again.

Azu looked at her feigned indifference, but he wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled gently.

"You're scared, Hope."

"You're afraid I'm here to steal your father's life's work, afraid that the Starr Corporation will turn this technology into a terrible weapon of war."

"Put away your hostility; I don't covet that technology."

At this moment, Azu raised his eyebrows, and his tone became high-profile and confident.

"Because I have something better than Pym particles."

Hope looked at him again, but her eyes were full of disbelief.

Despite her goodwill, as a top-notch research manager, she had an absolute understanding of the value of Pym particles.

That was a miracle that transcended centuries.

"Something better?" Hope scoffed. "If you really have technology more advanced than the so-called Pym Particles, why are you coming to me with a fabricated legend? You can go and change the world yourself."

"I came to you because I feel that you are the only one in this company who deserves the future of this technology. Collaborative research to benefit humanity—that's what I want to do."

Looking at Hope's still skeptical gaze, Azu knew that charm alone wouldn't be enough to win over this intelligent woman.

"Since you don't believe me, then I'll prove it to you."

As he spoke, Ah Zu stood up and pretended to reach behind his suit and take out a shrinking and enlarging lamp.

Then, under Hope's questioning gaze, he pointed the tip of the flashlight at himself.

"Open your eyes and look carefully, Hope."

Azu pressed the start button on the flashlight.

"Buzz—!"

A pale orange light shone from the tip of the flashlight onto Azu's head.

Under Hope's incredulous gaze.

The man, who was over 1.85 meters tall, shrank rapidly.

one meter.

Fifty centimeters.

ten centimeters.

Just one second.

Azu shrunk to the size of a chess piece and landed steadily on the carpet.

With the same posture as before shrinking, the miniature version of Azu raised his head, looked at Hope, who was as huge as a mountain of flesh, and waved his hand.

Hope was stunned.

She stood up abruptly, and because the movement was so large, she even knocked over the water glass on the coffee table in front of her.

Coffee was spilled all over the floor, but she didn't care at all.

Hope stared intently at the man on the carpet, who was only a few centimeters tall. Her mouth moved a few times, but no sound came out, as if she had lost the ability to speak.

How is this possible?!

Without the life support system of the Ant-Man suit, without any protection, and not even wearing a helmet!

It's important to know that while Pym particles alter the interatomic spacing in the body, they also significantly affect brain chemistry.

Without wearing the specially designed helmet, irreversible mental damage will occur. The user will become extremely paranoid, lose their sense of morality, become violent, or even go insane.

Moreover, when a person shrinks to the size of an ant, the oxygen molecules in the outside air are far too large for the tiny alveoli in a person's lungs.

Without wearing a suit with its own circulation system, they wouldn't even be able to inhale or exchange oxygen, and would suffocate instantly upon shrinking.

"What...what kind of technology is this?"

"No suit...no oxygen supply...this doesn't make sense..."

Hope crouched down, looked down at little Azu, and tried to calm her shocked emotions.

But from Azu's perspective, the view of that figure wrapped in a professional pencil skirt was completely exposed before his eyes.

Extremely alluring black openwork lace.

"Tsk, the iceberg CEO's taste in underwear is indeed full of this kind of wild and contrasting style."

He stood there admiring it for a few seconds, then cleared his throat and shouted.

"So, Hope? Now you see, are you willing to believe me?"

At this moment, Hope's previous guardedness and coldness completely disappeared.

All that remains is the fervent thirst for knowledge that a scientist feels when faced with unknown technologies.

"How did you do that? What's the working principle of that device you're holding?"

Instead of answering her question directly, Ah Zu gave a mischievous smile.

"We'll discuss the principles later. But before that, I must first give you a compliment."

"Black lace, a wonderful choice, Hope. It suits your cool exterior but warm interior personality perfectly."

Hope didn't react for a moment, and after a three-second pause, she realized what Azu was talking about.

Her gaze shifted downwards, glancing at the spot where she had crouched down, and then at the angle from which Azu was now standing.

boom!

Hope suddenly stood up, pressed her hands to her skirt, and squeezed her legs tightly together, glaring at the little figure on the carpet with a mixture of shame and indignation.

Logically, she should have gotten angry, cursed him out, or even stomped on this frivolous jerk.

But for some reason, she couldn't get angry at all.

It even evokes a sense of excitement, like being teased by a lover.